Marlin and Dory
by Mia Turner
Summary: It has been 3 weeks since Marlin and Dory's adventure while finding Nemo, but after all they have been through, Marlin is starting to see Dory as more than just a friend...


It was really late in the night. Marlin could feel Nemo's body softly breathing beside him. He looked up and couldn't help but smile for a good long time. He'd seem to be doing this a lot lately in the middle of the night, but he couldn't always figure out why. He knew the pleasure came from thinking of someone, but he was usually so tired, he couldn't quiet put his thumb (er... fin) on it. He figured he probably knew deep in the back of his mind, but he didn't want to admit it to himself. It was very new after all. He hadn't felt this happy just thinking about someone since he'd met Coral. He had no idea who it was that kept making him smile, all he knew was that the shadow of that same fish kept visiting him in his dreams, but whoever it was, it was always too blurry to make out. Suddenly, as he was looking up, he was broken out of his thoughts when the blurry silhouette of the fish slowly made it's way toward him. Mysterious as it was, Marlin couldn't help but smile. He obviously liked this fish. A LOT. He wondered, again, who it could be, but he knew in the back of his mind that it could only be one person, but he wasn't coming out and saying it for some reason... then the only fish that ever understood him started swimming closer and closer...  
  
"Daddy? Daddy?" A voice brought Marlin back to reality. He woke up to see Nemo staring down at him. Well, no fair. It had all been a dream, after all. "Nemo? What are you doing up so late?" Marlin asked, groggily. "It's morning, Daddy. I think you were dreamin' about somethin' 'cause you were mumbling a lot. So what was it about? Huh?" Nemo eagerly asked. Marlin stared up at him. "Time for school." He said sternly. Nemo took this as a signal that his dad didn't wanna talk about it, and arguing probably wouldn't help.  
  
After dropping Nemo off, he swam solemnly back to the anemone. He was SO disappointed that it was just a dream. It just wasn't fair. He sulked himself home and into the anemone. He heaved a deep sigh. He DID know who he was thinking about. He knew it was obvious all along, but he was too shy to come out and admit that since he met her, all he ever thought about was...  
  
"Hey, Marlin!" His thoughts were, again, interrupted as Dory came cheerfully swimming towards him. Marlin's spirits lifted higher then he'd felt in a long time. "Dory!" He piped, cheerfully. They swam towards each other happily. When they reached each other, Dory put her fins around Marlin and gave him a hug. Marlin thought he was going die of happiness. "So what have you been doin'?" Dory asked Marlin. "Nothing much." Marlin replied. "I just came back form dropping off Nemo and came here to..." Marlin stopped himself, realizing that he almost let it slip that his thoughts had been strictly focused on her for the past week. Marlin could tell that Dory had a hint of confusion on her face. "Nothing, I just came back here to relax. It was a long night." Marlin said sadly. He knew what was happening to him. He was in love. He didn't understand why everyone said love was such a good feeling. It just seemed to make his stomach hurt. But this was different. He felt bad because he knew it could never work. He was a Clown Fish and she was a Blue Tang. If ever there was a more bizarre couple on the reef, he'd certainly never heard of it. Dory must have detected the sorrow in his voice because her smile quickly faded away. "Uh... hey? Are you okay?" She asked. 'Okay?' he thought to himself. 'If you call loving someone who isn't even your own species "okay" then things are going just perfect.' "Uh... yea. I'm fine."  
  
Marlin tried to distract her by changing the subject, or maybe suggesting they play a game would work. In any case, he had to find a way to get off the subject before he ended up spilling every last detail about how he'd always felt about Dory from the moment he first looked into her eyes. "Um, hey, what have YOU been doing lately Dory?" Marlin nervously asked. "Oh, I've been having lots of fun!" Dory squeaked as though the first part of the conversation had never happened. 'Phew, nice save Marlin.' He thought to himself. Now just stay on topic. "Uh, Dory, whadya say, we just take a little swim. you know, catch up on what's been happening lately." Marlin suggested. Dory accepted the invite happily and they started to swim off. 'Okay, just stay on the topic.' Marlin continued to think to himself. 'I can tell her what's been happening without bringing up my undying love for her.' Marlin had just realized how ridiculous this thought sounded. All he had done since he last saw Dory was think about her. He decided that his best solution was to just improvise his way through the conversation.  
  
Somehow, they had quickly gotten into the conversation of families. Marlin had no idea how this happened because he spent most of the time thinking about what his next words would be, rather then actually listening. He jerked his head up when he heard the only part of the conversation he actually listened to. "Marlin, whatever happened to your family?" Marlin thought for a few minutes, searching for the right words. He hadn't brought up the subject of Coral in a long time. "Uh, Dory, it's a really long story, uh... maybe I should tell you back at home, okay?" Dory was a little confused, but trusted that Marlin knew what he was doing. They stopped by Dory's house (er...tunnel). It was a little small, but it was enough space for them to get comfortable and get ready for a long story. "Okay, just wait here. I gotta go pick up Nemo and drop him back off at the house, and then I'll come back here; okay?" Marlin asked. Dory nodded, anxious to hear what Marlin would have to say.  
  
When it was very dark, Marlin headed back to the tunnel. Dory was sort of pacing around, but stopped and settled quickly when she saw Marlin. "Okay. Are you comfortable, Dory? Because I have the feeling that this could be a long story." Dory said nothing. She just kept staring into Marlin's eyes. He wished she wouldn't do that. Her gaze made him so nervous and lightheaded. He didn't know whether to look at the ground, or at her, so he did a bit of each. He told Dory every detail of what happened to his 399 eggs, and Coral; and about how Nemo was the only one to survive, and how he got his "lucky fin". When he finished the story, he found himself doing something he hadn't done since Coral died. He was beginning to cry. Dory swam next to him and took one of his fins in hers. "Oh, I'm so sorry." she whispered with more sympathy in her voice then he'd ever heard in his life. "It's gonna be okay." she added reassuringly. Marlin looked up at Dory. She stared into his eyes with that all too familiar gaze the made him so lightheaded again. "Thank you, Dory." 'Thank you?' Marlin thought. 'that's the best you can come up with? Thank you? ' but that was nothing in comparison with what he was about to say next.  
  
"I haven't had the feeling I had with Coral since I met you." he managed. He put his fins to his mouth. He KNEW! He just KNEW there was no way he could hold it in forever. Dory, absent-minded as she is, didn't seem to understand. "Dory, it's time for me to stop beating around the bush... I...I..." His stomach took a leap. He couldn't believe he was about to go through with this. 'Sink or swim!' Marlin thought. 'Now or never...' "Dory I love you." he said very quickly. Dory just stared into his eyes again. For a moment Marlin thought that maybe he'd spoken a little too fast, but then Dory opened her mouth, and closed it again. She did this about 3 times, obviously searching for a response. Marlin wished more than anything that she would come up with one. She hadn't said anything since he thanked her. Dory finally managed to pull together a response. "Marlin... I... had absolutely no idea... but the truth is..." 'Oh no.' Marlin thought. 'I KNEW it could never work. She could never love me as much as I love her.' "the truth is... I love you too..." Dory had gone completely red in the face. What did she say? Could this really be happening to him? "I mean... I've loved you since I first met you. I just remember looking in your eyes for the first time and thinking...'this is it.'" Marlin understood that sensation all too well. But he felt much more when he looked into Dory's eyes. He always felt overjoyed, yet completely frightened whenever he saw them.  
  
They had absolutely no idea what they were doing, but they started to inch closer to each other. Their minds told them to stop, but their hearts shouted for them to continue. Marlin closed the gap between them, and felt like he'd never been happier. He felt so overjoyed, that it took him a second to process what he was doing. This was the girl that he loved... the one he thought would never be able to love him back, and here he was, alone with her, kissing her. When they finally broke off, they stayed silent for a few seconds, both very red in the face. "Uh... I have to get back to Nemo." Marlin said in a dazed tone. They would do anything to just keep looking at each other forever. Dory still said noting. Just waved slowly as Marlin swam away. Dory felt tears well up in her eyes. She had never had a true best friend in her life, but now she had something even better. She had someone to love. Marlin swam absentmindedly back to the anemone with a huge smile on his face, his mind still processing everything that had happened that night. 'Wow.' Marlin thought to himself. That was the only word that could possibly describe it. 'Wow.'  
  
The End. 


End file.
